Bin Salman has been mocking the aging U.S. president in private, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing government sources.
By World Israel News Staff
The growing animosity between U.S President Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been widely reported in various news outlets over the past year.
But the elderly president’s questionable mental state has made him somewhat of a laughingstock in the Kingdom, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
Bin Salman, 37, has been mocking Biden in private, making fun of his gaffes and questioning his mental acuity, according to sources inside the Saudi government, the report says.
Indeed, the 79-year-old president has been showing signs of dementia, and a significant percentage of Americans, including Democrats, are questioning his mental state.
The crown prince also much preferred former President Donald Trump, the sources said. Bin Salman and Trump had a close relationship, largely due to the former administration’s tough stance on Iran, which also threatens the Saudis.
Regarding the friction and lack of trust between bin Salman and Biden, “rarely has the chain of broken expectations and perceived insults and humiliations been greater than they are now,” said Aaron David Miller, a veteran U.S. diplomat in the Middle East now at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, WSJ reported.
“There’s almost no trust and absolutely no mutual respect,” Miller said.
However, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, the Saudi foreign minister, denied the allegations, according to WSJ. The kingdom’s leaders have always accorded the greatest respect to U.S. presidents, he said.